It's a trend far beyond surveillance.
Here's an interesting article from the Financial Times that explains what is going on and the risks involved. The article notes that companies owned / controlled by the Chinese government, have “unlimited access to funding from state banks”."
Perhaps the most fascinating observation is at the end:
"Chinese companies had been largely content to earn renminbi revenues because of a consensus that the Chinese currency was undervalued and because the return on capital inside China was strong.
“Now this has all changed. The return on capital inside China has fallen, the renminbi is no longer obviously undervalued and the capital account has been opened, allowing outward investment”
What Hikvision does with its $3 billion debt will be interesting to see? Will they follow the Chinese trend and spend that on major western security manufacturers?